Heart of the Plush
by FireCacodemon
Summary: While searching for Atem's lost memories a new student arrives in Yugi's class named Yami Serene. With the appearance of Yami, an individual who struggles to get along with others and has his own issues, a new threat rises seeking the power of the Millennium Puzzle while threatening Yami, Yugi and his friends step in to help defeat the threat and to help Yami.
1. Prologue

FireCacodemon: Welcome to the Heart of the Plush, my brand new Yu-Gi-Oh story. Yu-Gi-Oh belongs to Kazuki Takahashi. Enjoy.

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Prologue

"I'm sorry to drop by so late sir; I'm honoured that you'll see me at this time of night."

"Come now, Mr. Serene, someone willing to expand on the world of Duel Monsters will always catch my interest," Pegasus said as he held up a tall thin glass up to a pair of crimson eyes. "I already have the card game all sorted out though, Kaiba Corp does the hologram system, and what can you provide me which will work in my favour?"

"My idea is mainly for children and collectors."

"Oh? How do you plan on doing that?" Pegasus asked; intrigued on what the younger male was going to offer. If what was being offered benefited Industrial Illusions then of course he was going to give permission to Mr. Serene to use the Duel Monster idea. "Children of what age though? The game is already simple enough that any child can pick up the game and play."

"The idea is to be able to create soft toys of the Duel Monster monsters, for instance..." Mr. Serene opened up his backpack and reached inside, and gently pulled out a brown fur-ball plush with large yellow eyes with purple pupils, tiny green claws for the hands and feet. The Kuriboh plush was placed on the table. Pegasus smiled at the soft toy presented and put the glass down to pick up the Kuriboh plush and examined it further. Pegasus found himself amazed at the stitching, how soft the plush was as well as how kept it was to the original design of the duel monster itself. Looking up at Mr. Serene, the young male had talent similar to how Seto Kaiba had talent. "...as you can see, I'm aiming for the young audience who can't quiet pick up the game just yet. Like most soft animals seen on the shelves, anyone can pick them up and collect them." He spoke as Pegasus gently put down the plush Kuriboh.

"I do enjoy your idea but there is one question."

"What's that sir?"

"What's your team like?"

"I...prefer to make them one by one. I know it'll create a lot of work for me, as well as balancing school on top of it but just like you painted the original images for the cards, I plan to spent time producing them before opening up a shop of my own in Domino City."

"What? Working on your own to create this? I'm very impressed but I don't think it'll work with just you working on it."

"Would you like to have a deal?"

"What type of deal are you planning to ask?" Pegasus smiled.

"If I can prove to you I'm an effective worker, then you help me set up my own shop and allow me permission to create the plush. If I can't prove that I'm an effective worker then I'll drop the idea."

"That does sound like an interesting deal. I accept the terms and conditions of the deal. You have one week to make as many plush duel monster prototypes as you can."

"Thank you, sir." And with that, the deal was made.

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FireCacodemon: Well, that's all I have time for now. Hope you enjoyed.


	2. Chapter 1

FireCacodemon: Welcome back to another chapter of Heart of the Plush. A Yu-Gi-Oh! story I've been meaning to write for a long while and finally doing so. As stated in the previous chapter: Yu-Gi-Oh! belongs to Kazuki Takahashi. Enjoy the chapter.

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Chapter 1

Atem sat in his soul room and looked around, his memories and the power of the Millennium Puzzle remained hidden behind one of the countless doors. Occasionally Yugi would come and visit him in his room or he would visit Yugi in his room during the night. The only thing he knew was his name, nothing about his past or anything like that. His reason for being trapped in the Millennium Puzzle was a mystery. Fate placed him hear so he believed that he had some sort of mission which needed to be complete before anything else happened. The concept of Duel Monsters had caught Atem's interest as he watched Yugi play the game, even with additional rules added such as Tribute summon and Fusion summon. Different methods of summoning which wasn't added when they first started to play the game, rules which made the game more fair to a standard. Seto Kaiba now couldn't summon his Blue-Eyes White Dragons without sacrificing at least six monsters if he didn't use monster effects or spell cards let alone trap cards too. His trusted monsters such as Kuriboh, the Dark Magician and the Dark Magician Girl were always going to be with him when they duelled together, when they played the game for fun or to help save the world. Since the Millennium Puzzle was solved, Yugi was dealing with attacks left right and centre as they battled for Atem's hidden power.

" _I should probably silence my mind it wouldn't be fair on Yugi if I kept him up all night_ ," Atem sighed to himself as he tried to push away all the unanswered questions. Thinking about them wasn't going to help anything. Yugi needed sleep, not Atem's thoughts threatening to invade his little dream. He needed to settle down in order to let Yugi get the sleep he needed. Tomorrow was when Joey and his friends were going to come over to pick up Yugi before school, it would be best not to let Yugi greet them with tiredness lingering around his body. Atem decided to try and settle down in order to let Yugi get the sleep he deserved.

Heart of the Plush – Chapter 1

The morning came sooner than expected and Yugi was already up and running around with the energy from breakfast. Getting changed as quickly as possible while Atem sat down on the bed and watched his light frantically running around looking for this that and everything else. It felt like the decision of his friends coming to pick him up had sparked off something in Yugi which caused him to panic. The usually calm Yugi was buzzing around the room and all Atem could do was to watch him pull the socks over his feet, grabbing his shoes and slipping them on, he ran over to the mirror to adjust himself.

"They're going to be here soon," Yugi panicked. Atem blinked in confusion.

" _I'm afraid I don't understand..._ " Atem spoke from the bed causing Yugi to turn and to look at him.

"Oh, sorry Pharaoh, I thought you were asleep?" Yugi smiled at Atem. "Did you sleep well?"

" _Sleep was not with me. I spent most of the night pondering about my purpose here, my forgotten memories and the 'power' I'm said to have._ " Yugi frowned hearing the words from the spirit. Countless times people had come after Yugi and his friends for Atem and this so called 'power' that he had. It would be surprising to have a week without anything unexpected happening or someone or something after Atem. Atem watched Yugi before looking away from the teenager and let his mind bring up the questions he had last night. Yugi watched Atem and couldn't help but feel sorry for him, he only knew his name and that was it. It wasn't like Yugi himself could tell Atem anything to help him about his past. No one knew anything. Yugi smiled and walked over to Atem and sat down next to him.

"Hey, come on. After school we'll have a good look around in text books and the museum to see what we can find," Yugi gently placed his hand on Atem's shoulder. Atem looked over at Yugi and sighed deeply.

" _I'm sorry for bringing your spirits down,_ " Atem apologised.

"I would be in the same position as you are if we were in the opposite shoes."

" _Would you?_ "

"Anyone would be if they only knew their name."

" _I guess...with the lack of identity, one doesn't know where they belong and will feel isolated._ "

"Did you pick that up during school?"

" _I did, yes._ "

"Well, when everyone comes over we'll be able to help you." Atem smiled, Yugi and his friends always brought a smile to Atem's face. The warm atmosphere that the four (sometimes five or more) friends created while hanging out during school, saving the world together, revising together, playing games together or just chilling out together. The atmosphere created was warm and inviting to anyone who could feel it. Even some of the people who originally wanted Atem's power turned into one of their allies, something that they didn't expect.

It wasn't long before the jungle of the shop bell rang and the loud voices of Joey filled the building Yugi and Atem couldn't help but laugh at the sound of Joey's voice, swiftly followed by Anzu's* voice scolding Joey for being so loud in the morning and Tristan's laughing as Joey's voice came through once more. Yugi looked at Atem and they knew that today was going to be another exciting day with their friends. Yugi grabbed his deck and placed it in his bag before heading downstairs to greet his friends and head off to school. Atem returned back into the Millennium puzzle as they left the Kame game shop.

"Have a good day at school Yugi," Solomon said.

Heart of the Plush – Chapter 1

Domino High school was buzzing with the sound of chatter about a new student arriving. Word spread quickly like a wild fire in a dry forest, it wasn't known as to which class the new student was going to be joining or what they were like as an individual. What drew people to the word was the simple fact that new students were often the most interesting students around. The desire of getting another possible player on a team was also a major highlight of being a new student and what they had in their qualities. While many new students often found their friends and place in the school quickly there was still the fact that there were some students who failed to find the schooling 'needs' as quickly as others have. Possible due to how they were themselves or any other influence on the student. Female students wanted the new student to be a male so that they could analyse him for his qualities and good looks while the male students wanted a male so that they could have another male friend to hang out with. If he was good at sports, recruit him into as many teams as possible without much hassle. On the other hand, if the student was a female, the males would have the chance to judge her from the physical appearance and nothing more. Female students would have another female friend to hang out with, talk about boys and do other girly activities such as make-up the beauty of each other. There was the handful of students which neither cared what the new student was. Some were seeking a friendship that brought new traits, qualities and new sights that others could easily connect to and talk. Then there was the main trait that everyone looked for...were they a duellist?

Duel Monsters, the popular game around the world and which individuals who had their whole life revolving around the cards. Some were collectors and only wanted certain cards such as Fiend-type monsters, Fairy-type monsters, or Dragon-type monsters. Others were interested in their price on the market so that they could make some money on the 'top card' that all duellists were using. There were others who collected the cards because of their art or who didn't understand the rules of the game or who simply didn't like the competition that some duellists gave. Friendly duels were what made some people play while not actively seeking to be famous from the game itself. With the individuals all gathered under the collection term of duellist, many students wondered what type of duellist they were. Were they going to be a collector? Were they going for the Pro label? Were they just into it because their friends and family were into it? Many questions buzzed around the new student and no question had a definite answer. The school bell rang.

Heart of the Plush – Chapter 1

A gentle knock on the door was heard, drawing Yugi and his class' attention. The teacher, Mr. Taka smiled and walked over to the door.

"I'm so glad to see you found the classroom okay," he smiled as the door opened. "Please come inside, class this is Yami Serene. He'll be joining our class. Please give him a warm welcome and treat him kindly."

"Thank you sir," the clacking sound of shoes filled the classroom as the students fell quiet. A young male around the age of 16 walked through the doorway of their classroom wearing the Domino High school uniform like they all did. The individual had light skin with the height of about 163 centimetres tall give or take. His eyes were a crimson colour which caused some students to shuffle backwards slightly on their chairs just from a small glance from the student. His hairstyle was similar to Yugi's hair with crimson tips and blond streaks shooting up through his star-shaped haircut. He walked next to the teacher's desk before he took a small bow in front of the class.

"He looks similar to Yugi..." Joey whispered to Tristan and looked between the two of them.

"No, he looks similar to Atem..." Tristan corrected his blond haired friend. Joey nodded and they both glanced over at Yugi.

Yugi himself looked shocked; it was like looking at Atem but not at the same time. Instead of crimson, Atem had magenta eyes and magenta tips in his hair, just like Yugi did. His mind buzzed with confusion before he felt Atem in the Millennium Puzzle, soothing Yugi to calm down.

' _Yugi, please calm down._ ' Atem said to try and sooth Yugi through the mind link.

'Right...sorry Atem, Yami's appearance caught me off guard.' Yugi mentally apologised to Atem who couldn't help but chuckle.

' _It's quite alright. I'm shocked too about Mr. Serene's appearance and how similar it is to ours. Calm yourself down and think of him as another student._ '

'Right, thanks Atem.'

' _I'm happy to help._ ' And with those words, Yugi felt himself feeling a lot better.

"Mr. Serene, tell us a little about yourself," Mr. Taka smiled at Yami.

"I'd rather just sit down sir." Mr. Taka nodded and pointed Yami to his seat. The student nodded and made his way to the empty seat and gently placed his brown backpack down. Taking the seat out from behind, Yami slid into the seat and lifted the flap off his bag and removed a few pens and a lime green notebook out from his bag and onto the desk. He was well aware that the students were watching him but thankfully Mr. Taka drew the class's attention back and started his lecture on the Japanese culture. The class ignored him for the rest of the lesson as they took notes and answered questions.

Break had arrived, most of the students had already left the classroom, the remaining students were; Yugi, Tristan, Joey, Anzu, Ryou and Yami. The five students were watching Yami as he removed bits and pieces from his bag, such as needles, a sewing needle, thread and a lot of fabric. It was interesting to see what the teenager was doing but it confused them all greatly. Yami pulled out what looked to be a scrap book from his bag and put it on the desk (what little space he had left) and flipped the book open, turning to a page he started to get to work. The five friends were lost on what they should be doing and what Yami was doing. The other students in the class didn't really want to talk to him yet but that was probably going to change the following day when everyone was used to his presence. It was a common sight. What wasn't a common sight was someone who looked to be making something from the fabric which wasn't clothing. Ryou looked interested in what Yami was doing.

"So, what do you think he's making?" Anzu asked the group of friends. Joey looked away as Yugi pulled out his duel monster deck and placed the deck of cards on the table.

"Whatever he's making, he's happy so we best not disturb him," Tristan said as he watched Yugi as he shuffled his deck. Ryou couldn't tear his eyes away from Yami.

"Come on guys, he's a new student. We're going to have to show him the ropes around here," Ryou told the group. Joey and Tristan couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Ryou, if you want to go up to him, then be our guest." The two teenagers laughed out the words. Ryou couldn't help but sigh he knew what it was like to be the new kid around the school and it wasn't very fun. He looked over at Yami who was already sewing together the pieces of fabric he was cutting out previously.

"At least I'll try and be a friend." Ryou separated himself from the small group of friends and made his way over towards Yami. The teenager gave Ryou a quick glance before they returned back to the work in front of him. Ryou took note on the form of the project before his mind clicked to what he was making on the desk. A brown furred body with tiny green claws with white tips for the hands and feet, Yami had already moved onto the eyes of the Kuriboh and was quickly making them so that they could be sewn on quickly onto the body of Kuriboh before Yami even attempted to sew the claws onto the brown furred duel monster. Ryou wanted to say something but seeing Yami work instead put Ryou off the idea of even saying a single word to him. There was something about the aura around Yami which seemed to put a lot of people off striking up a conversation with him. Yami himself; ignored Ryou standing next to him and focused on his hands and the project. Ryou could feel the eyes of his friends watching his every movement as he was over by the teenager who revealed nothing about himself. The aura surrounding Yami was there to try and put people off coming over to him and bothering him as he worked. Yami knew that Ryou wasn't going to leave his side unless he said something. Mentally sighing; he placed down the incomplete Kuriboh eye down onto the table and turned to look at Ryou.

"Can I help you with anything?" Yami asked the white haired teen. He jumped and turned his attention back towards Yami and smiled.

"I was just wondering...if you wanted to hang out with me and my friends. They're all really nice, I promise you." Ryou did his best to keep his cool; it was always intimidating to talk to a new face for the first time.

"No thank you." A short reply came and answered Ryou's request. Yami turned away from Ryou and returned back to work. Ryou could just feel Joey laughing behind him at that.

"But..." Ryou started before he was stopped by Yami by a single glare.

"Please leave me alone," Yami nearly growled at Ryou. The teen jumped back slightly at Yami's tone of voice, the irritation from Yami wasn't something that Ryou or anyone else was expecting. Ryou nodded quickly and left Yami's side and returned to the group of friends.

Heart of the Plush – Chapter 1

Pegasus was sitting down in his chair while watching some children's cartoon shows. His mind was half hoping Yami would provide a lot of prototype plush Duel Monster. The idea itself was brilliant; a good way to extend the Duel Monster franchise to everyone, even little infants who still had to get into the game itself. He was impressed as well with the Kuriboh plush that was made, even though it was just a prototype, he was well aware that Yam could easily perfect Kuriboh and carry over the skills to the other plush Duel Monsters which were going to be made. Yami himself seemed to be a charming young man, something Pegasus enjoyed in a person. On the other hand, Pegasus wanted Yami to do terrible. He didn't want Yami himself to use the idea of Duel Monsters to make soft plush versions of his Duel Monster cards, to be fair that it was only the monsters which were going to have plush versions made, not the spell of trap cards which were possible such as Toon World could probably have been done along with some other spell and trap cards. If Yami failed, then Pegasus could easily take the idea and then claim it as his own idea; mass produce them and then sell them as part of Industrial Illusions. Then there won't be any more competitions between who was doing what. Yami would have given up the idea of his Duel Monster plush but would probably come back to bite him by creating action figures. Pegasus knew that Yami wasn't going to back down from his dream of opening up a shop. Pegasus wanted Yami to stop others from regaining popularity among the customers. All he could do for the time being was to wait.

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FireCacodemon: Thank you for reading, don't be afraid to leave a review, favourite or follow. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and have a good day/night.


	3. Chapter 2

FireCacodemon: Welcome back to another chapter of Heart of the Plush. Yu-Gi-Oh belongs to Kazuki Takahashi.

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Chapter 2

Yami knew that he needed to apologise to the male who came over to him but he needed to get his plushies done and all sorted. He only had a week to get as many plushies as possible made and ready for Pegasus to inspect. Kuriboh was an easy monster to make and produce quickly but the more challenging monsters such as the Egyptian Gods weren't going to be easy to perfect seeing as they were one of the rarest cards, only three were made and from what he read in the news, people working on the cards were killed in some form. Physically or mentally, they were taken down. Since the game originated from Ancient Egypt and they were Gods, he was going to hesitate to make the prototype. He could easily enrage the Gods and bring himself his own...suffering...Yami was going to have to hold off on them until the cards were in his possession. Watching the needle pull the thread through the holes that he put into the fabric to seal off the fabric, he made sure that his fingers weren't in the way of getting pricked. Looking back at the Kuriboh card, he felt that he was reaching the end of making the brown furball. Yami looked over to the white haired teen and his friends before Yami shook his head. He didn't need friends...they only ended up getting pushed away anyway. He'll spare them the pain.

It was only natural that Joey wanted to throw a few punches at Yami for the way he treated Ryou; it wasn't any way that Ryou should have been treated like that, especially with the new kid. Ryou had assured them that he was okay but it didn't sit well with them. Yugi couldn't help be become interested in what Yami was doing. It was unusual that someone was just happily working in the classroom which wasn't about school work. Yugi and his friends either talked with each other and played Duel Monsters or just talked. Neither of them did one or the other, something that Yugi was grateful for.

" _Yugi, are you feeling slightly off put by the fact that Yami looks nearly identical to me?_ " Atem appeared in his spectral form next to Yugi. Yugi nodded slightly. As far as Yugi was aware, he didn't have a twin on any form or any siblings. Yugi could only shrug off the mystery for now and focus on his friends.

"That guy should have treated ya better!" Joey yelled at Ryou. The timid teenager took a step back away from Joey with his hands up defensively.

"I clearly bothered Yami at a bad time," Ryou defended himself against Joey.

"Stay like that a-"

"Ryou's fine the way he is," Tristan defended Ryou against the blond teenager.

"Thank you Tristan," Ryou smiled at Tristan, showing his gratitude.

"Yami has his reasons...when he's not working, we'll go and introduce ourselves properly," Anzu told the group. That was something that they could all agree with. They looked over to Yami; the teenager had his deck out and was happily shuffling through the cards. "Look, he's also a fan of Duel Monsters, so why not challenge him to a game. Any duellist cannot back down from a challenge."

"Hey, that sounds like a good idea," Joey smiled, drawing out his deck of cards. Anzu had hit the mark; Joey was going to duel against Yami. "Hey Yami? I wanna ask you something!" Yami looked up from his cards and over to the blond haired teenager.

"What?" Yami returned the Kuriboh card back into the deck of cards.

"Come on, let's duel!" Joey removed his Red-eyes Black Dragon from his deck and showed Yami. Yami's eyes flashed at the possibility of the duel.

"Sorry, but I've got work...to be doing."

"Are you a chicken?"

"Referring me to a bird doesn't mean anything. I may have the cards but it doesn't mean that I'm a duellist."

"The flash in your eyes said otherwise."

"One duel and then you leave me alone."

"Alright! We'll duel after school with Duel Discs."

"If that makes your boat float..." Yami sighed. It looked like he wasn't going to get much done today as the result of the plush.

Heart of the Plush – Chapter 2

Joey was buzzing with excitement; the last bell rang which meant that Joey was going to get his duel. Yugi and the group were all outside, waiting for Yami to turn up. It didn't take long before the challenged teen came into Joey's sights with his duel disk already clipped onto his arm. Joey brought out his duel disk and slapped it down onto his arm before taking his deck out. Joey and Yami swapped decks to shuffle before returning them back to their owners and got ready for the duel. Joey had the standard duel disk which Kaiba presented to the world while Yami's duel disk looked slightly modified, making it look more kid friendly with a felt outline around.

"Can we do 2000 life points?" Yami asked as the deck was placed in the deck slot.

"Huh? Why?"

"I have projects to complete as well as today's homework."

"Why are you so busy to have fun?" Joey asked him. Yami didn't reply to the question. He couldn't tell anyone why he was the way he was, desperate to prove to Pegasus that he could do the job that he wanted. His dream...he wanted to make it a reality so much but to do that, he needed all the time he could to make the plush. His dream depended on how many he could make before the week was up. "Hello?" Joey asked confused, waving his hand in front of the teen.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Should I go first or should you go first?"

"I'll go first," Yami replied as he drew five cards. Joey did the same before Yami drew another card. "I place 2 cards face down and summon Shop Keeper in attack mode." Yami placed two cards faced down before he placed his first monster down. The card was a level 4, Earth monster. Having the simple appearance as any average male, he was standing behind a till with a sword tucked away on his belt. The warrior type monster was an effect monster based on the card colour with 1800 attack points and 1500 defence points. "I end my turn."

Joey looked at the monster before looking at his hand. He didn't have anything which was stronger than Shop Keeper but he did have one monster with just enough defence to give him time to summon a higher monster. Joey drew his card and smiled. He drew a monster which equalled attack points to Shop Keeper. What he was worried about were the two faced down cards that Yami had placed in his spell/trap card zone. They could be something to prevent him from summoning the monster or it could do anything. He would have to deal with it when it was activated.

"I summon Garoozis in attack mode!" Joey yelled as he slammed the card into the monster card section of the field. Yami let himself smile. So, Joey was playing a monster with 1800 attack points so that he couldn't destroy it. "I'll place one card face down and end my turn."

"A wise move to play a monster with equal attack points to my own; I draw and play my field spell card, Kingdom of Plush. Kingdom of Plush prevents you from playing any spells or trap cards which will negate the summoning of any 'Plush' monsters," Yami said as he placed a plush version of a castle in the field zone on the mat. "I'll enter my battle phase and use Shop Keeper to attack your Garoozis. Both are destroyed and neither of us takes any battle damage. Activating Shop Keeper's effect, I can search my deck for any 'Plush' monster and add it to my hand." Yami picked up his deck and shuffled through before he found the card he was looking for. Withdrawing it from his deck he added it to his hand. Yami shuffled the deck after. "I end my turn," Yami said after.

Everyone watched as Yami sacrificed his monster just to get rid of Joey's monster. Sure it triggered the effect of Shop Keeper but it was possible that was exactly what Yami wanted to happen. Yami wanted to draw a 'plush' monster from his deck but no one knew what it was. It wasn't a strategy that many duellists would have used. It would break the trust of their monsters and no one wanted to do that. For Yami, it looked okay in his books. Duellist Kingdom had happened so they had all seen Pegasus' Toon monsters but this was the first time that they heard the word 'plush' in a monster's name. Atem materialised beside Yugi to get a better look at the game. With Battle City coming up, Joey and Yugi had their decks already prepared in advance.

" _Do you think Yami us up to something?_ " Atem asked Yugi.

"I don't know Pharaoh, but sacrificing a monster so easily...just doesn't seem right."

" _I know what you mean; monsters are our prized possessions in this game. It just seems that Yami's pretty keen on getting these 'plush' type monsters out onto the field._ " Yugi nodded at Atem's comment.

"Well, for now we can only watch and cheer for Joey."

Heart of the Plush – Chapter 2

Joey had the upper hand of the duel. He had his prized Red-eyes Black Dragon out onto the field while Yami's monsters failed to match up to the dragon's strength. Yami's life points were down to 500 while Joey's life points were down to 300. With just his Red-eyes Black Dragon on the field, it was enough for him to feel like he had won the duel already. Yami's 'Plush' monsters were similar to the monsters used during Duellist Kingdom, Pegasus had managed to get a camera crew to record the duels on the island but the final match was corrupted so it couldn't be shown but the news that Yugi had defeated Pegasus blazed around the forums like wild-fire. Yami was about to draw a card from his deck before he felt his phone buzz in his pocket.

"Mind if I take this?" Yami asked politely to Joey and his friends. The confused look gave him the answer he needed. Getting up from the game, Yami walked away to take the call. Joey and the others watched. "This is Yami...you're changing the deadline? For tomorrow! Yes sir...Bye..." Yami sounded disappointed but hung up the phone. Returning back to the game Yami sat back down.

"What was that about?" Joey asked.

"I activate my trap, Ring of Destruction. I destroy your Red-eyes Black Dragon which brings us to a draw. Now I have to return home and do my homework," Yami put his cards back into his deck and pocketed the deck away. Yami got up and quickly ran home, leaving everyone else confused about what just happened.

"He ended it in a draw..." Tristan commented.

"Probably if Yami didn't receive the call, he wouldn't have played Ring of Destruction," Atem said, taking over Yugi's body.

"What do you think it could be?" Joey asked.

"Well...he was making plush versions of Duel Monsters, maybe the call was related to that?" Ryou spoke up, having actually gone to talk to Yami briefly; he saw how worked Yami's hands were as well as the materials in his bag and the cards for referencing the designs for the plushies.

"His deck caught my interest," Atem smiled at the thought of having the chance to duel against a deck like that in the upcoming Battle City that Kaiba was preparing.

"His deck was pretty cool but I don't think we've seen the beating heart of the deck," Joey smiled and nodded.

"I can't help but think there's a connection between the Toon deck that Pegasus used and the Plush deck that Yami used today. Both are revolved around children," Anzu shuffled awkwardly at the connection. The group fell silent, if there was a connection between the two then the phone call was from Pegasus playing a small game with Yami just like they had with Yugi and Atem to force him to join Duellist Kingdom. Pegasus has a cruel way to twist people to making them do what he wanted.

Atem's eyes darkened at the thought of Pegasus pulling the strings which will take away what Yami is working hard for. He watched Yami in the classroom; he was a hard working individual who didn't quite eat the full lunch that was made for him, by himself or by a shop or family member. He couldn't do anything naturally because he was just a spirit but he hated to feel useless. Yugi felt how Atem was feeling and agreed with his concern for his contact with Pegasus; they couldn't help because Yami didn't ask. There wasn't anything wrong with getting him as a friend though, someone to talk to. Just watching him run back home now...the aura of loneliness hovered around him.

Heart of the Plush – Chapter 2

Yami couldn't believe the call that he just received from Pegasus! He was coming tomorrow to come and see how many plush he could make. He knew that he didn't have a week left but Pegasus was an idiot and booked himself up for the rest of the week and tomorrow was the only time he was going to have time to come and see him. Yami was sprinting home as quick as he could, he was only grateful that he was a quick runner so that he wouldn't waste too much time just on travel. He hated to leave the duel like he did but the duel was nothing compared to the drive he had to make the shop as he wanted it. Any duellist would have ended the duel after fighting their hardest, not ending it in a draw. He let his monsters down and he knew that, pulling a cheap trick...he was hoping that Joey would have used a card to send his trap and spell cards to the graveyard. He didn't hate the card, he liked it but playing it that way...Yami mentally slapped himself. He needed to get a grip. A gentle squeak in his bag pulled him out of his thoughts and made him smile. He wasn't far from home now. "Thank you," Yami said as he stopped and pushed the button for the traffic lights.

Getting home, Yami moved upstairs to get changed out from his school uniform and into more comfortable clothing. A simple black t-shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans was all that Yami needed before he walked over to the bed and got down onto his hands and knees. Retrieving his supplies from under the bed, Yami got straight to work. He'll probably crash at school but as long as he pleased Pegasus with his work, he didn't care. He heard his bag shuffling behind him, looking over his shoulder he saw that the his first made plush Kuriboh was digging around in his bag for any plush that he made during the school hours. The squeaking sound the plush Kuriboh made was perfect, not too high pitch but still kept its cute little side there. Naturally Yami was the only person who ever saw this side of the plush but he didn't mind. From the duel his mind already planned out what the Red-eyes Black Dragon plush was going to look like.

"Where are the others?" Yami asked the plush. Plush Kurboh looked at Yami and blinked before it hopped away from the bag and started jumping up and down in front of the wardrobe. Yami crawled over to the wardrobe and stood up. Taking hold of the door handle he pulled the door towards him. Inside were the first attempts of the duel monsters. They weren't perfect but that made them special and just like plush Kuriboh bouncing in front of Yami, each of them had their own lives. Yami wasn't sure why it was only the first ones but he was glad that it was only the first ones. They were great company after a rough day at work. "You guys can come out now," he smiled. The plush smiled up at him before they climbed out the box.

" _What are we making today?_ " Plush Celtic Guardian asked Yami as the elf-man looked up at him.

"We're just going to make as much as we can, I'm going to try and make a Red-eyes Black Dragon plush for another series. For now, we just need to focus on making Celtic Guardians, Kuribohs, Beaver Warriors, Baby Dragons, Happy Lovers and Thunder Kids. That's series one then all done. We don't have much time before Pegasus arrives tomorrow to see." Yami told the plushies. They all nodded and they all got to work. "I really don't know what I would do without you..."

" _We're only here because of you,"_ they all replied happily and everyone got to work. Everyone worked their hardest to make as many plush as possible from the first season of plush that were to be released by Yami if he pleases Pegasus. " _Why did Pegasus book himself up?_ "

"I don't know, most of me think that this is a test to see how well I can work while under pressure. If we do succeed and get the shop, then pressure is going to be there which might feel like this. I'm actually looking forward to working all night," Yami smiled. The plush all smiled and they continued their work much like Yami. He didn't lie to Pegasus; he does work alone.

" _Have you made any friends?_ " The plush version of the Celtic Guardian asked.

"No, and I don't plan on making friends."

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FireCacodemon: Silaqui Nailo - I'll upload as quick as I can. Thank you for leaving a review. ^^

Yami: Well, that's all for now. If you enjoyed it, leave a review to let us know. Thank you for reading and we'll be back next chapter.


	4. Chapter 3

FireCacodemon: Welcome back to another chapter of Heart of the Plush. I know the wait has been long but more important matters turned up and more inspiration for other stories...that and it's hard creating a brand new deck for Yami in this story. I've been trying hard to get his deck all sorted. But anyway, Yu-Gi-Oh belongs to Kazuki Takahashi.

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Chapter 3

Yami was getting ready for his visit from Pegasus, making sure that all the other plush were ready and waiting to be examined. He kept the prototypes away so that Pegasus wouldn't see them if they moved. They were his friends and he wasn't going to let Pegasus take them away. He wasn't sure if he believed the rumours that Pegasus could read someone's mind but he wasn't completely sure. Yami had dressed up smart but Pegasus had decided to come during school hours so Yami didn't even go to school, too busy worried that Pegasus was just going to turn up and he would be at school...didn't look good if he wanted permission to use his Duel Monster idea. The doorbell sounded, making Yami nearly jump out of his skin as he ran towards the door, pulling the door open, he was happy to see that Pegasus was standing there with a smile on his face.

"Well now, Yami-boy I'm here." Pegasus said in a happy voice making Yami feel a little uncomfortable. From the feel of the atmosphere, he wasn't going to get the shop he wanted or the chance to even sell his plush under Industrial Illusion. The best that Yami could do was to prove what an effective worker he was while still attending school. If that shined, then Pegasus would have to keep up his end of the deal.

"Please come inside sir, they are all waiting for you to examine them," Yami opened the door wider to let Pegasus inside. The taller gentleman passed Yami and made his way into the living room.

Inside the living room, there were rows and rows of all the plush that Yami and the other plush had made. The first copies of the plush were safely tucked away in his bedroom where Pegasus won't find them. He wasn't going to let Pegasus take them away from him, they were his friends and he was going to protect them with his life. Yami watched as Pegasus picked one of the plush Kuriboh and examined it. Testing the brown fur that Yami had picked. Pegasus made sure to check how soft the plush was as well as to see the stitching under the fur. Yami knew that he should be getting ready for school but Pegasus came first. Pegasus moved onto the next plush and did the same test he did on Kuriboh. He was satisfied with how they were made.

"Well, you certainly have put a lot of time and effort into making these plush."

"Thank you sir," Yami bowed.

"You'll certainly bring in customers for your shop. Well Yami-boy, you have my permission to create these plush for you to sell. There is one condition though."

"Sir?"

"I'll take 10% of your earnings after the cost of materials."

"That's a deal."

Heart of the Plush – Chapter 3

"Looks like Yami's not in class," Anzu noticed as she walked inside the classroom.

"Think he's upset about something?" Tristan asked the group. "I mean, that duel yesterday...I don't think Yami wanted it to end like that." Yugi and the group nodded. They had overheard that Yami had a deadline and that was today so they assumed that was the reason why Yami wasn't in school the following morning. Whatever came up was taking priority over the education system.

"Still, I'm going to challenge him the next time we meet, those plush monsters may have looked cute but we never got to see the true strength of the deck," Yugi smiled and everyone nodded.

"Won't it be a bit unfair for you to duel him though? I mean, you're the King of Games while Yami's...maybe not that advanced as you are in duelling," Ryou questioned Yugi.

"It's just a friendly game; it isn't like our lives are on the line."

' _Still, I would be careful when we duel Yami, we don't know his deck completely to take it easy when we duel him. That and we do not know Yami well enough to be able to judge and predict his next movements,_ ' Atem warned Yugi.

'I know Pharaoh, but we won't know anything until we duel him ourselves.'

The school bell rang and students started to file in and to take their seats. Projecting conversations across the classroom as their friends either didn't sit next to them or struggled to hear each other over other conversations. The classroom turned into a loud mess before the teacher came in and drew everyone's attention by talking over everyone. The class started without Yami or Kaiba turning up. It was expected of Kaiba to skip school as he had a company to run but Yami, the new student...it was unusual. Not even the teachers had warning that Yami was taking a day off from school. It was safe to say that Yugi and his friends were worried about Yami. The best that they could do was continue on the day like it was normal, duelling each other, chatting and just getting on with their studies.

The bell had just rung for lunch and students were leaving the classroom in their groups as usual. Yugi and his friends stayed behind like normal. It wasn't that they didn't like leaving the classroom but the classroom was often the most quite place to stay in. It was something that they all enjoyed as people didn't come and bother them. Yugi and Joey were having another duel against each other while still talking to their friends. The latest duelling news that was running around the internet, the gossip in duelling magazines and any other form of media that was possible. Anzu was keeping an eye out for Yami at the window.

"Things have been kinda calm, haven't they?" Anzu commented, halting the duel.

"You do have a point there...I know that this sounds bad but I kinda want something interesting to happen soon." Tristan crossed his arms, Battle City hadn't started yet so there wasn't anything really going on in the mean time.

"Kuriboh!" A brown fur ball hopped onto the duelling mat and scattered cards everywhere. Joey and Yugi scrambled to catch their cards as the brown fur ball looked around and hopped off onto another desk. The sound of running footsteps quickly entered the classroom and over to where the brown fur ball had jumped to.

"You followed me to school?" In came the angry voice of Yami, everyone turned to see that Yami had managed to catch the fur ball...only to see that he was holding onto a very excited looking Kuriboh...plush?

"What's...going on?" Ryou asked as the plush was flailing its tiny green claws in the air while its little feet flailed too. It was entertaining to watch but at the same time, confusing on why the plush was moving, squeaking and desperate to escape from Yami's arms. Yami tensed up, seeing Yugi and his friends all watching him.

"Sorry, I apologise for ruining your duel thanks to Kuriboh," Yami bowed to them, feeling very embarrassed. "If I was aware of Kuriboh following me, I would have taken him home."

"Wait a minute...That Kuriboh plush is alive?" Joey yelled as the Kuriboh plush waved its little claws at the group and squeaked.

"Kuri Kuri~" It squeaked before looking up at Yami.

' _Well, this is a turn of events,'_ Atem materialised next to Yugi who nodded. They had heard of the cards having souls of the duellist and sometimes won't attack if being controlled by another duellist but this was different. This was a plush toy having a piece of someone's soul and becoming alive! Joey felt himself starting to panic. He never was a fan of ghosts and this looked exactly like a ghost was involved with the possessing of the plush in Yami's arms.

"Guess...I should start talking...right?" Yami asked and everyone nodded.

Heart of the Plush – Chapter 3

"Ever since I was little...I loved duel monsters. How the game is played, the designs of the monsters, cards and traps. I loved the whole idea of the game and its history linked to Ancient Egypt. But...I noticed how little the game was to the younger audience, like the children who were too young to even read the cards or how to play the game based on the rules. So I came up with an idea I pitched to Pegasus of Industrial Illusions. If I made plush versions of the monsters, making them child friendly so they wouldn't scare the children...then young children could get involved with the Duel Monster universe while they waited to play the card game. That and people who don't play but are collectors can have something else to collect too," Yami started, the Kuriboh on his lap was playing with some string. Yugi and his friends sat and listened carefully. It seemed that Yami and Kaiba were going to become rivals in the business life.

"So that's what the phone call was about yesterday?" Yugi asked and Yami nodded.

"I want to run my own shop where I can sell them...but without permission from Pegasus, I won't be able to. He wasn't thrilled to see me when I came to him with the idea in the first place but I interested him by making a deal with him. Since I'm the only one making them while attending school...the deal was that if I could prove that I was an effective worker in making the plush, while attending school...I would be able to sell them in a shop I have yet to own. With the help of my parents, getting the shop won't be hard since they knew what I wanted to do. They said they'll help me get started and then when or if the plush sell well, my parents will stop backing me and let me continue on my own feet."

"Sounds like you know what you want...is this why you were late to school?" Anzu asked and Yami nodded once more.

"Pegasus came to see me this morning and we wrote out the contract, Pegasus will be getting 10% of my earnings after the cost of material and tax, which is fair enough in my opinion as I am using his Duel Monster idea. He was pleased with my work but I feel that he wanted me to fail so that he could have my idea. If I didn't satisfy him, then I would have to give up the dream and let him have the idea himself."

"How come Kuriboh is alive?" Joey asked Yami.

"Similar to how the Duel Monster cards have their own souls, the first plush I make of a monster...gets its own soul too. Kuriboh happened to escape after lunch and I've been chasing him until now."

"You and Kaiba are going to be rivals in the business world," Ryou half smiled.

"I'm aware of that...but the Kaiba Corporation near enough sell ways to improve the card game itself while the plush won't do that." Yami looked down at Kuriboh and smiled.

"I think your idea is great, I would back it up. Just one question...how did you get plush type monsters?" Yugi asked.

"They...kinda made themselves after I created the plush. Each monster I made, the night after the card was just sitting there on my desk. I stopped trying to understand a while ago and just accepted it. Thanks to the duel yesterday, I managed to create this little guy." Yami took his bag off his back and unzipped it pulling out a plush version of the Red-Eyes Black Dragon. Everyone's eyes widened at the sight of it. It looked amazing and very similar to the real dragon that Joey had used yesterday in the duel. Joey felt his excitement grew the longer he looked at the dragon. "I'm...going to apologise for how the duel turned out yesterday and you can keep the Red-eyes Black Dragon. I already apologised to my monsters and they understood why I had to do it."

"You made this after one duel with the dragon?" Joey asked.

"Yes, and you can have him." Yami offered the dragon to Joey, who took the plush off Yami.

"You didn't have to," Joey was ready to burst.

"What's your dream now?" Yugi asked.

"I want to make the Egyptian Gods as plush...but I want their permission first or I'll end up like Pegasus' men while they worked on the cards," Yami zipped up his bag and put it back on his back, Kuriboh hopped onto his shoulder. "Well...I better go and take my seat before the bell rings."

"Yami, how complete is your deck?" Yugi asked.

"Not enough for 4000 life points, just enough for 2000, why?"

"I want to challenge you when you have a complete deck then, if that's okay with you?" Yugi asked. Yami nodded.

"You'll win though; you're the King of Games."

Heart of the Plush – Chapter 3

Seto Kaiba, the CEO of Kaiba Corp was busy typing away on his laptop. His big plan for Battle City was starting to fall into place as he typed away, making new rules for the game which would provide more of a challenge to duellists and especially Yugi, but also to himself as the new rule of summoning came into effect when that tournament started. Sacrificing monsters to summon higher star monsters meant that he couldn't just play his Blue-Eyes White Dragons when they came into his hand and needed more planning if he wanted to do that. His deck would need re-sorting to make it easier to summon the dragons without sacrificing too many monsters. He knew that Yugi was going to have to do the same if he wanted to get his Dark Magician out, if Kaiba really wanted, all he needed to do was to stop Yugi from sacrificing monsters while he could. That wasn't up for him to decide though, that was when the deck came into play. It wasn't long before his phone started to ring. Without looking at the phone, he picked it up.

"Hello?" Kaiba asked in a displeased voice.

"Kaiba-boy, it's been a while since we talked," Pegasus spoke. Kaiba mentally groaned, he thought that he had had enough of Pegasus after Duellist Kingdom. Guess he was wrong on that.

"What is it Pegasus?"

"I thought about being nice to you Kaiba-boy and letting you in on a new project being started."

"I don't care," Kaiba said in a monotone voice and went to hang up.

"Before you hang up, I hope you start seeing the new product soon. They were ado-" The phone was hung up. Kaiba didn't care if a new project had started up. It wouldn't even dent his company so it wasn't his concern. Getting back to the more important matter, getting Battle City ready, the duel disks were already selling quickly as it enhanced the game. Nothing a small business will be able to do.

"Who was on the phone?" Mokuba asked as he entered the room.

"Pegasus being annoying and calling me because he's bored," Seto told his little brother. Mokuba nodded. He's had enough of Pegasus too and with the plan that he had back then, he wasn't surprised that Pegasus had turned to teasing Kaiba in more ways than one.

"I thought I saw Yugi running down the street after a Kuriboh," Mokuba said. Anything that had to do with Yugi caught Kaiba's attention. It was unhealthy but he wanted to know everything possible about his rival and he always wanted to be one step ahead of him. He wanted to beat Yugi in Duel Monsters and claim back his title of being the King of Games. He wanted to prove to the world that he was still better. Kaiba's fingers stopped typing as he just thought about what Mokuba had just said. Yugi was chasing a Kuriboh?

"Mokuba, are you sure you saw what you just said?" Kaiba asked his little brother.

"Yeah, he was chasing a Kuriboh down the street. Have you done some new holographic program that I'm not aware of?" Mokuba asked.

"You know everything I do. I've done nothing to make Duel Monsters become solid holographic just yet." So then why was Yugi chasing a Kuriboh?

Heart of the Plush – Chapter 3

Atem sat in his soul room. Yami's story was rather interesting and he wanted to back up Yami's dream as much as possible but what puzzled him more was his lack of memories. Something nagged at him telling him that his memories were somehow linked to Yami or that Yami himself was soon to be thrown into a world of danger. Yugi's friends were right at school, things did seem calm for now while they waited for Battle City to start up. Kaiba was planning something big and they could all feel it. Atem should probably ask if they could go to the museum to start searching for Atem's memories. Even if the museum didn't help, being around Ancient Egyptian artefacts couldn't hurt and maybe make him feel better slightly. His mind drifted back to Yami. A toy maker who didn't plan on damaging any other business...would Solomon's shop hold anything against Duel Monster plush? From the look of the Red-Eyes Black Dragon, they were well made and probably impossible to damage quickly. Yami's hands were good at making the plush and the active Kuriboh plush that came to school too...Maybe Yami wasn't normal like he was? Maybe Yami had some powers that not even he was aware of? It seemed possible in this world. Atem looked at the many doors in his soul room, one of them held answers while the many others held nothing but more room for him. He thought back to when Shadi entered his mind to have a look around and only found himself in trouble. If Yugi didn't come and save him...then would Shadi have been trapped here too?

"I'm going to need as much help as possible if I'm going to get my memories back."

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FireCacodemon: Unknown1234567 - Yes, they are alive and kinda explained in this chapter. There'll be more (maybe) interaction between Yami and Yugi and his friends, maybe some Yami and Atem interactions too. Depends on where the story goes. Thanks for the review.

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FireCacodemon: That's it for the story, hope to please more readers in the next chapter...whenever that gets written. Thanks to everyone who's looked at this story, it means a lot and I hope to get Yami's deck all sorted out at a future date.


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